Fierce Girls ABC Podcasts

Calling all Fierce Girls!  Do you know a girl who has guts? A girl who deserves a little more glory? We want to know who the fiercest girls in Australia are, and we need kids like you to tell us! 
Ready to find out more and start writing your very own Fierce Girls episode? Go to the Fierce Girls Competition page for writing tips and all the details you'll need to submit your story.

Faith Thomas grew up throwing rocks at galahs. She'd only been playing proper cricket for a couple of weeks before she was picked to represent South Australia. Her phenomenal stats made headlines. So, it was no great surprise when Faith got called up to represent Australia against England in Brisbane.
When she stepped onto the Gabba cricket ground, she became the first Aboriginal person to play on any Australian team... not just cricket. But cricket was just a game to Faith. So, not long after that test, she left sport behind to dedicate herself to saving lives as a nurse.

Narrated by cricketer and Muruwari woman, Ashleigh Gardner.

Extra narration by Peggy Webber. Thanks to Daniel Browning and Tyson Baird.

Yukultji Napangati grew up with no contact with the outside world. Just her and her family, living on a shimmery salt lake. She learned how to live on Country, how to find food, water, and shelter. She was a particularly great hunter. When she turned 14, everything changed. She saw her first other humans, and saw a car for the first time. She had been brought to live with other people from her mob, and here she found out she was really good at something else too, painting. It used to be men's only business, but by the time Yukultji picked up her first paintbrush, it was something women in her community would do too.
Her stroke was unique. It was special. It made her work shimmer just like the salt lake she grew up on. And her paintings now hang on the walls of some of the most famous people in the world.

Narrated by artist Atong Atem.

Queenie McKenzie grew up on a cattle station, staying away from the grasps of the authorities, who would take Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids like her from their families at will. As she grew up, she solved problems everywhere she saw them.  From building schools and teaching kids in her community, to saving a man's life by repairing his scalp stitch by stitch.
But deep down, she wanted to tell the stories of her Country. To preserve their importance.

She started painting in her 70s - becoming the first woman in her community to do so - and realised the power of telling stories through art. And once she started, she never stopped.

Narrated by Wiradjuri poet and artist Jazz Money.

When Kath Ruska's dad told her white people would never recognise Aboriginal culture, she hoped he was wrong. She became a famous poet, using her pen as a weapon to fight for Indigenous rights.
Her words took her all the way to Parliament House, where she demanded the Prime Minister do more to improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

But she still had an English name, so she changed it to Aboriginal language -Oodgeroo, meaning paper bark, and Noonuccal, the name of her tribe.

Oodgeroo moved back to her island home - Minjerribah - and figured out the best way to make sure her culture was always remembered: she taught it to children, black and white.

Narrated by Gamilaroi and Dunghutti writer and podcast maker, Marlee Silva.

Extra narration by Peggy Webber.

Mary Ann Bugg was an Aboriginal woman who became a savvy bushranger and accomplice to Captain Thunderbolt. She was the bushranger's spy, riding ahead into towns to check for police. She also used her bush skills to gather and hunt food for the group of bushrangers she rode with. Mary Ann used her first-class education and stunning beauty to fool the troopers and avoid being caught.
Narrated by singer-songwriter Thelma Plum.